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Sunday, May 24, 2015

This is the time to remember family who served and have died!

My brother Leslie Isaacs died, not in battle, but after he had come back after he had served his country, family, and his Masonic brothers. A life which was noble and giving to all of those who were fortunate to have known him. He was far to young to be taken by cancer as he had so much more to give to humanity. I miss him and pray for him every day when I open my computer and see his smiling face which I have as my splash screen.

My first cousin Darwin Boslov died this past year. He too served his nation and was a fine humanitarian who lived out his last years being legally blind. What I recall most about him was that both my brother and I had worn his Navy uniforms when we served. Darwin had a great sense of humor, was athletic, and lived life to its fullest.

Joseph Berger was married to my cousin Shirley Boslov. Both of them are deceased now. Joe served in the Army. He was a man who tried his best in the things that he did and always had a great sense of being pleasant even when circumstances were difficult. He provided well for his family and left two children Diane and Ronald.

This memorial day I feel honored to have known them and pray that they are at peace in heaven!

Thoughts about protests:

The other day I read that protests in Ferguson Mo were paid demonstrations. Those people who went out into the streets were there at someone else beckoning to raise a ruckus. Do we see anyone doing an investigation of who did the paying and the motives? No! Some news articles are decrying the person or persons as instigating the unrest! If this was true and information is known, we should justly be totally upset! Inciting a riot is a felony crime. Yet - nothing is being done. Then in Baltimore, there were riots, destruction of property, and death caused by the mob mentality.

Now, Cleveland is the next bastion of trouble. 71 people were arrested last night (Saturday May 23, 2015) for crimes against persons and failure to disperse. The question is were these "demonstrators" spontaneous protestations of outrage or were they paid by the same organizers of Ferguson and Baltimore? Can we rely on the efficacy of the Justice Department to investigate? I doubt it, what they seem to be doing to second guessing the legal system as to the innocence or guilt of the police officer who had been in court and found to be innocent! Double jeopardy should attach, even if there is a Federal violation found in an effort to placate an unruly mob!

We need to have all people stand up and demand that enough is enough. This could be a summer of violence worse than the 1960's when many cities, both North and South were left smoldering. We are a people far better than that and when foreign interests interfere with our livelihoods, safety, and prosperity it is time for the people to react peacefully. Demand that Congress step in and pass some laws which will protect and allow the police to serve.

It was a terrible time in Baltimore when the Mayor and Chief of Police refused to allow officers to do their jobs. The result was destruction until there was outrage by the citizens. Same went for Ferguson and it looks like Ferguson will never recover the stature of its fine past.

There are great solutions available to resolve some of the problems that we have here in the United States. It appears that unemployment and pride in earning a living for the black community is necessary. Congress can develop some inventive ways to put youth and the unemployed adults to work doing meaningful jobs which are geared to help the communities. Daily we read about the wonderful collection of taxes and the money that flows into the treasury. Why not dedicate some of that money for training, education, and jobs? Stop wasteful spending where we read about the glorious travel of the President and his entourage to Kenya! Why go there when we have severe problems here at home that need addressing now, not later?

Whenever people have problems in their lives they seem to extricate themselves by the old fashioned method of hard work. Congress should stay in session until they get the job done! Who says that they have to take a summer off? Passing legislation, holding hearings, investigating wrongdoing, and all the necessary things they were elected to do are mandates given by the people. Adhere to these time honored traditions and get busy!

Monday, May 11, 2015

Is Congress going to start passing legislation which will be in keeping with the goals of all Americans?

One of the things that we Americans keep wondering is whether or not the Republican dominated House and Senate will pass legislation which is adverse to the President's wishes. We keep hearing they are upset with many things and will be doing a lot about it. So far in the past few months of their tenure they have been weak in getting things done which would put a band-aide on presidential executive orders to stop the bleeding of American values.

We need to address several issues and today Sen. Rand Paul said that he was going to be a filibusterer and delay many things which were put into the Patriot Act which allows temporary violations of individual rights which has been done in violation of the Constitution because exigent circumstances existed because of 911. Well the time has come to address search and seizure provisions which allow searches without warrants if probable cause exists which would harm the United States. There are many other things which the act provides and they need to be addressed with a full airing and discussion of whether or not they should be stricken down for the future.

Additionally, there is the question of immigration policies (or the lack thereof) by Presidential fiat! We are starting to see many border crossings and little stoppage of illegals. The question is tantamount to open borders. News media who report (many do not) say that there is a waiting list of about 5 million people who are legally applying for US citizenship and are put on waiting lists. What is weird is that the illegals who walk across the southern border to not get stopped, no waiting, just come on in! There is hardly any track-age of their where about and over 80% who are given court appearance dates fail to show up and they have melded into the local communities.

We find that states must give driver's licenses, Social Security will give out cards, and then to make matters worse the way that voting is handled, they are given the right to vote!

Much is said on Facebook about issues which plague the illegals, but to have them file for taxes and get refunds when they do not work and do not pay into the system is abhorrent. When you look into the proof of some of the claims it seems that they are untrue and made up by fearful citizenry. Take what you read with some skepticism, check out the facts for yourself. Then, if you are satisfied with your conclusions, by all means speak out! However, do so with putting your sources there for everyone to check themselves.

If Congress does not do something, then again we shall have a shuffling of the deck and many people will once again vote what they think best. The regime will change or shift!

NFL and Patriotism!

The news broke over the weekend that 14 NFL teams took money from the Federal Government to demonstrate their patriotism with troops and the country by showing the Flag.

What a crock!

The NFL lets the Superbowl be played knowing full well there was tampering with the footballs before the game and instead of checking them before play let the game go on! Now they are going to use their righteousness to castigate Tom Brady when they easily could have countered the problem.

These two instances are enough to turn off a lot of fans who have been loyal all these years.

One of the things that makes America different is that we support sports teams with dollars, viewership, and pride in our own individuality. Now, we are being shown the door of decency with a quick slam in our faces. Respect of fans is out the window and the cost of things at the games is outrageous. We are not a bunch of sheep who can be led by the greed of certain people. Maybe we should walk away!

Have a great week, be alert, stay safe, and above all...love thy neighbor, but don't covet thy neighbor's wife!!!

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Baltimore during the week!

Police had to struggle this past week with the city officials, unruly crowds, and rule following marchers.

What started out as a peaceful demonstration overwhelmed the police department, the administration of Baltimore, and those who tried to keep the peace. Many mistakes were made by the Mayor and others who tried to direct the response to rioters.

As the week progressed, the officials finally got their act together and declared curfews to stop destruction and injuries. It worked! Then as the week went on it became apparent that trying to appease meant the rush to judgment against six police officers. The range of crimes from 2nd Degree Murder to failure to follow rules should have been bought before a grand jury. It would have made a lot more sense to have fresh sets of eyes bring out the charges rather than a person who had been on the job for 4 months without much criminal law experience in her background. I thought that she did a fine job of speaking and laying out the facts as she saw them, but when others realized that she was talking without much substance and a biased point of view it became a situation where she laid herself into a lot of criticism. Far better it would have been to take the matter before a grand jury and let the indictments come from there.

Questions were raised by the police that their lives were put in jeopardy and also the destruction of property stemming from Monday night riots where the police had instructions not to interfere.

Justice systems vary, but the truth is that the Constitutions of the United States and that of Maryland need to be followed whether the rules are for the police or citizens. Additionally, if there is a question of conflicts of interest because the State's Attorney has relationships with attorneys, aldermen, or the family of the deceased, an independent counsel might be in order so that the police involved can get fair and unbiased trials.

Naked May 2nd?

Someone sent me a photograph of a person tending a garden and that person was naked! It was the backside and nothing obscene was shown, but the idea was that on May 2nd, tending gardens was to be a naked time! Funny for sure. One of my neighbors said "Richard will not be tending to the garden today!" I replied, that I would be, would you care to come and watch? I did not say or infer that I would be sans clothing.

We have a weekend of vintage cars!

This weekend is the annual event here in Kingman on Route 66 where vintage autos of yesteryear are brought out by their owners to drive the existing route of Route 66 from Kingman to Seligman Arizona. Events are planned along the highway where the drivers stop, get refreshments, BBQ, and the like. In Kingman itself there are places where they all can show off their pride of ownership and gawkers can see what all the hullabaloo is all about! A fun day for all and it is a celebration Americana which is peaceful and great sport. The cars as they age get more and more valuable! Prices on these relics of the past exceed $20,000.00 each. If you are of the older generation, you might kick yourself when you think about that car of the 1950's you once owned and if you kept it what it would be worth today!

Enjoy the first week in May. Get out and look around!

During the past week on Facebook there were a lot of discussions about Baltimore.
Also, some statements about cell phones. One of the things that I was discussing was the fact that I do not use a cell phone. There are a lot of people who do and I am getting the feeling that I am now in the minority! Probably true. In the 1970's I had the first proto type of cell phones. It was quite interesting because they worked mostly through the AT&T lines. The size was about the same as they are now and you had to keep them charged. Then came along the FM phones which were through local towers. The cost was about $350 per phone (that is the wholesale cost). Then resale was $700. I started a company to do this and we sold one phone! The buyer was a man who did repossessions of cars. One week after he had the phone he called me. Told me the phone saved his life because when he was repossessing a car the owner came out and started shooting at him. From behind his tow truck he called the police for help. They came and saved him! That was the only sale every made by me. We folded up the company and watched as the cell phone of today came into existence.